Note: Her ashes were interred in the Sunset Memorial Park and Mausoleum and were not scattered as initially reported in her obituary.
Gertrude "Trudy" Busch, the third wife of the late Anheuser-Busch beer baron August "Gussie" Busch Jr., died Wednesday (May 11, 2016) at her home in Town and Country. She was 89 and had been diagnosed seven years ago with Alzheimer's disease.
Born Gertrude Buholzer in Lucerne, Switzerland, her education included finishing school in Lugano, Italy. She spoke French, Italian, English, and German. In 1949, when she was 22, she was working as a hostess at her family's Old Swiss House restaurant in Lucerne. A visiting Gussie Busch became smitten with the slim, beautiful blonde, and ran up a large tab. He was estranged from but still married to his second wife, but asked her that night for a date.
"He...proposed to me that first night," Mrs. Busch said later, according to the book "Under the Influence," by former Post-Dispatch reporters Peter Hernon and Terry Ganey. "That's the way he is. When he says he's going to do something, he does it."
She eventually returned with him to the family's estate at Grant's Farm, where he showered her with lavish gifts and called her Troodles. She traveled with him all over the country and became one of the hostesses who greeted Harry S. Truman during a visit to the farm in 1950. They married in 1952, a month after Gussie Busch's divorce was finalized. She was 25 and he was 53, and they went on to have seven children.
Mrs. Busch was Catholic, and eventually Gussie Busch became baptized in the faith. They became benefactors of St. Louis University, and in 1959 built a private St. Hubert's chapel on the Grant's Farm grounds, where Mrs. Busch loved arranging Sunday Mass for family and friends.
Mrs. Busch was responsible for opening the "Big House" at Grant's Farm, which had sat shuttered for years since his father's suicide at the mansion. "It was a huge undertaking. But she did it really well," said her daughter, Trudy Busch Valentine, of St. Louis County. "She already had learned so much from her family, from the restaurant business and how to run a good home and make it comfortable and beautiful and cozy and charming."
Her mother loved hosting parties and always looked good whether she wore an evening gown or riding clothes, Valentine said. She was loving but also did the disciplining, her daughter said.
Mrs. Busch remained graceful and strong in times of family tragedy, such as when her 8-year-old daughter Christina was killed in an automobile crash in 1974. The driver of the truck that hit her was so upset about what happened, and Mrs. Busch wanted to talk to him, but her lawyers advised her not to, said Valentine.
"She asked (the hospital administrator) to please go to him and tell him that she forgives him, she knows that he did not mean to do this," Valentine said. "Through all the difficult times that she had, she was strong and compassionate to others."
The Busches divorced in 1978. Mrs. Busch understood that the children would live at Grant's Farm with their father, and she lived half the year in Town and Country and half the year at a chalet in the Eigenthal in Switzerland, where the children often stayed with her. She named the home there Chalet Christina after her young daughter. She traveled extensively with friends and immersed herself in the places she visited, learning their histories and cultures.
According to "Under the Influence," Mrs. Busch once gave this advice to her children: "Don't take yourself too seriously, be optimistic and cheerful, don't carry a chip on the shoulder -- above all, don't rely on your name."
In addition to Valentine, Mrs. Busch is survived by sons Adolphus Busch IV of St. Peters, Mo., and Marathon, Fla., Peter Busch of Whitefish, Mont., William Busch of St. Louis County, and Andrew Busch of Santa Barbara, Calif.; daughter Beatrice Busch von Gontard of Front Royal, Va.; a brother, Kurt Buholzer of Hergiswil, Switzerland; 31 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and her assistant of 46 years, Ruth Gosik.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the chapel at Mercy Center, 2039 North Geyer Road in Frontenac. The family plans to scatter her ashes between the Big House at Grant's Farm and the St. Hubert's Chapel.
Note: Her ashes were interred in the Sunset Memorial Park and Mausoleum and were not scattered as initially reported in her obituary.
Gertrude "Trudy" Busch, the third wife of the late Anheuser-Busch beer baron August "Gussie" Busch Jr., died Wednesday (May 11, 2016) at her home in Town and Country. She was 89 and had been diagnosed seven years ago with Alzheimer's disease.
Born Gertrude Buholzer in Lucerne, Switzerland, her education included finishing school in Lugano, Italy. She spoke French, Italian, English, and German. In 1949, when she was 22, she was working as a hostess at her family's Old Swiss House restaurant in Lucerne. A visiting Gussie Busch became smitten with the slim, beautiful blonde, and ran up a large tab. He was estranged from but still married to his second wife, but asked her that night for a date.
"He...proposed to me that first night," Mrs. Busch said later, according to the book "Under the Influence," by former Post-Dispatch reporters Peter Hernon and Terry Ganey. "That's the way he is. When he says he's going to do something, he does it."
She eventually returned with him to the family's estate at Grant's Farm, where he showered her with lavish gifts and called her Troodles. She traveled with him all over the country and became one of the hostesses who greeted Harry S. Truman during a visit to the farm in 1950. They married in 1952, a month after Gussie Busch's divorce was finalized. She was 25 and he was 53, and they went on to have seven children.
Mrs. Busch was Catholic, and eventually Gussie Busch became baptized in the faith. They became benefactors of St. Louis University, and in 1959 built a private St. Hubert's chapel on the Grant's Farm grounds, where Mrs. Busch loved arranging Sunday Mass for family and friends.
Mrs. Busch was responsible for opening the "Big House" at Grant's Farm, which had sat shuttered for years since his father's suicide at the mansion. "It was a huge undertaking. But she did it really well," said her daughter, Trudy Busch Valentine, of St. Louis County. "She already had learned so much from her family, from the restaurant business and how to run a good home and make it comfortable and beautiful and cozy and charming."
Her mother loved hosting parties and always looked good whether she wore an evening gown or riding clothes, Valentine said. She was loving but also did the disciplining, her daughter said.
Mrs. Busch remained graceful and strong in times of family tragedy, such as when her 8-year-old daughter Christina was killed in an automobile crash in 1974. The driver of the truck that hit her was so upset about what happened, and Mrs. Busch wanted to talk to him, but her lawyers advised her not to, said Valentine.
"She asked (the hospital administrator) to please go to him and tell him that she forgives him, she knows that he did not mean to do this," Valentine said. "Through all the difficult times that she had, she was strong and compassionate to others."
The Busches divorced in 1978. Mrs. Busch understood that the children would live at Grant's Farm with their father, and she lived half the year in Town and Country and half the year at a chalet in the Eigenthal in Switzerland, where the children often stayed with her. She named the home there Chalet Christina after her young daughter. She traveled extensively with friends and immersed herself in the places she visited, learning their histories and cultures.
According to "Under the Influence," Mrs. Busch once gave this advice to her children: "Don't take yourself too seriously, be optimistic and cheerful, don't carry a chip on the shoulder -- above all, don't rely on your name."
In addition to Valentine, Mrs. Busch is survived by sons Adolphus Busch IV of St. Peters, Mo., and Marathon, Fla., Peter Busch of Whitefish, Mont., William Busch of St. Louis County, and Andrew Busch of Santa Barbara, Calif.; daughter Beatrice Busch von Gontard of Front Royal, Va.; a brother, Kurt Buholzer of Hergiswil, Switzerland; 31 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and her assistant of 46 years, Ruth Gosik.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the chapel at Mercy Center, 2039 North Geyer Road in Frontenac. The family plans to scatter her ashes between the Big House at Grant's Farm and the St. Hubert's Chapel.
Note: Her ashes were interred in the Sunset Memorial Park and Mausoleum and were not scattered as initially reported in her obituary.
Note: Her ashes were interred in the Sunset Memorial Park and Mausoleum and were not scattered as initially reported in her obituary.
Gertrude "Trudy" Busch, the third wife of the late Anheuser-Busch beer baron August "Gussie" Busch Jr., died Wednesday (May 11, 2016) at her home in Town and Country. She was 89 and had been diagnosed seven years ago with Alzheimer's disease.
Born Gertrude Buholzer in Lucerne, Switzerland, her education included finishing school in Lugano, Italy. She spoke French, Italian, English, and German. In 1949, when she was 22, she was working as a hostess at her family's Old Swiss House restaurant in Lucerne. A visiting Gussie Busch became smitten with the slim, beautiful blonde, and ran up a large tab. He was estranged from but still married to his second wife, but asked her that night for a date.
"He...proposed to me that first night," Mrs. Busch said later, according to the book "Under the Influence," by former Post-Dispatch reporters Peter Hernon and Terry Ganey. "That's the way he is. When he says he's going to do something, he does it."
She eventually returned with him to the family's estate at Grant's Farm, where he showered her with lavish gifts and called her Troodles. She traveled with him all over the country and became one of the hostesses who greeted Harry S. Truman during a visit to the farm in 1950. They married in 1952, a month after Gussie Busch's divorce was finalized. She was 25 and he was 53, and they went on to have seven children.
Mrs. Busch was Catholic, and eventually Gussie Busch became baptized in the faith. They became benefactors of St. Louis University, and in 1959 built a private St. Hubert's chapel on the Grant's Farm grounds, where Mrs. Busch loved arranging Sunday Mass for family and friends.
Mrs. Busch was responsible for opening the "Big House" at Grant's Farm, which had sat shuttered for years since his father's suicide at the mansion. "It was a huge undertaking. But she did it really well," said her daughter, Trudy Busch Valentine, of St. Louis County. "She already had learned so much from her family, from the restaurant business and how to run a good home and make it comfortable and beautiful and cozy and charming."
Her mother loved hosting parties and always looked good whether she wore an evening gown or riding clothes, Valentine said. She was loving but also did the disciplining, her daughter said.
Mrs. Busch remained graceful and strong in times of family tragedy, such as when her 8-year-old daughter Christina was killed in an automobile crash in 1974. The driver of the truck that hit her was so upset about what happened, and Mrs. Busch wanted to talk to him, but her lawyers advised her not to, said Valentine.
"She asked (the hospital administrator) to please go to him and tell him that she forgives him, she knows that he did not mean to do this," Valentine said. "Through all the difficult times that she had, she was strong and compassionate to others."
The Busches divorced in 1978. Mrs. Busch understood that the children would live at Grant's Farm with their father, and she lived half the year in Town and Country and half the year at a chalet in the Eigenthal in Switzerland, where the children often stayed with her. She named the home there Chalet Christina after her young daughter. She traveled extensively with friends and immersed herself in the places she visited, learning their histories and cultures.
According to "Under the Influence," Mrs. Busch once gave this advice to her children: "Don't take yourself too seriously, be optimistic and cheerful, don't carry a chip on the shoulder -- above all, don't rely on your name."
In addition to Valentine, Mrs. Busch is survived by sons Adolphus Busch IV of St. Peters, Mo., and Marathon, Fla., Peter Busch of Whitefish, Mont., William Busch of St. Louis County, and Andrew Busch of Santa Barbara, Calif.; daughter Beatrice Busch von Gontard of Front Royal, Va.; a brother, Kurt Buholzer of Hergiswil, Switzerland; 31 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and her assistant of 46 years, Ruth Gosik.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the chapel at Mercy Center, 2039 North Geyer Road in Frontenac. The family plans to scatter her ashes between the Big House at Grant's Farm and the St. Hubert's Chapel.
Note: Her ashes were interred in the Sunset Memorial Park and Mausoleum and were not scattered as initially reported in her obituary.
Gertrude "Trudy" Busch, the third wife of the late Anheuser-Busch beer baron August "Gussie" Busch Jr., died Wednesday (May 11, 2016) at her home in Town and Country. She was 89 and had been diagnosed seven years ago with Alzheimer's disease.
Born Gertrude Buholzer in Lucerne, Switzerland, her education included finishing school in Lugano, Italy. She spoke French, Italian, English, and German. In 1949, when she was 22, she was working as a hostess at her family's Old Swiss House restaurant in Lucerne. A visiting Gussie Busch became smitten with the slim, beautiful blonde, and ran up a large tab. He was estranged from but still married to his second wife, but asked her that night for a date.
"He...proposed to me that first night," Mrs. Busch said later, according to the book "Under the Influence," by former Post-Dispatch reporters Peter Hernon and Terry Ganey. "That's the way he is. When he says he's going to do something, he does it."
She eventually returned with him to the family's estate at Grant's Farm, where he showered her with lavish gifts and called her Troodles. She traveled with him all over the country and became one of the hostesses who greeted Harry S. Truman during a visit to the farm in 1950. They married in 1952, a month after Gussie Busch's divorce was finalized. She was 25 and he was 53, and they went on to have seven children.
Mrs. Busch was Catholic, and eventually Gussie Busch became baptized in the faith. They became benefactors of St. Louis University, and in 1959 built a private St. Hubert's chapel on the Grant's Farm grounds, where Mrs. Busch loved arranging Sunday Mass for family and friends.
Mrs. Busch was responsible for opening the "Big House" at Grant's Farm, which had sat shuttered for years since his father's suicide at the mansion. "It was a huge undertaking. But she did it really well," said her daughter, Trudy Busch Valentine, of St. Louis County. "She already had learned so much from her family, from the restaurant business and how to run a good home and make it comfortable and beautiful and cozy and charming."
Her mother loved hosting parties and always looked good whether she wore an evening gown or riding clothes, Valentine said. She was loving but also did the disciplining, her daughter said.
Mrs. Busch remained graceful and strong in times of family tragedy, such as when her 8-year-old daughter Christina was killed in an automobile crash in 1974. The driver of the truck that hit her was so upset about what happened, and Mrs. Busch wanted to talk to him, but her lawyers advised her not to, said Valentine.
"She asked (the hospital administrator) to please go to him and tell him that she forgives him, she knows that he did not mean to do this," Valentine said. "Through all the difficult times that she had, she was strong and compassionate to others."
The Busches divorced in 1978. Mrs. Busch understood that the children would live at Grant's Farm with their father, and she lived half the year in Town and Country and half the year at a chalet in the Eigenthal in Switzerland, where the children often stayed with her. She named the home there Chalet Christina after her young daughter. She traveled extensively with friends and immersed herself in the places she visited, learning their histories and cultures.
According to "Under the Influence," Mrs. Busch once gave this advice to her children: "Don't take yourself too seriously, be optimistic and cheerful, don't carry a chip on the shoulder -- above all, don't rely on your name."
In addition to Valentine, Mrs. Busch is survived by sons Adolphus Busch IV of St. Peters, Mo., and Marathon, Fla., Peter Busch of Whitefish, Mont., William Busch of St. Louis County, and Andrew Busch of Santa Barbara, Calif.; daughter Beatrice Busch von Gontard of Front Royal, Va.; a brother, Kurt Buholzer of Hergiswil, Switzerland; 31 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and her assistant of 46 years, Ruth Gosik.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the chapel at Mercy Center, 2039 North Geyer Road in Frontenac. The family plans to scatter her ashes between the Big House at Grant's Farm and the St. Hubert's Chapel.
Note: Her ashes were interred in the Sunset Memorial Park and Mausoleum and were not scattered as initially reported in her obituary.
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GERTRUDE B. BUSCH
FEB. 17, 1927 - MAY 11, 2016
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